Thorn of the White Rose
by Wishmaker91296
Summary: Naruto's life could not be any better. Everything is going his way and his life with Kakashi is perfect...But soon things start to change around him, and Naruto slowly becomes his own worst enemy. Sequel to "The White Rose" Co-author KitElizaKing KakaNaru NaruKaka KakashiXNaruto NarutoXKakashi KakashiNaruto NarutoKakashi


**Hello everyone! I just want to remind everyone that this is a sequel to "The White Rose". If you haven't read the story you may be lost, copy the link here to read the first part of the tale. s/7805983/1/The-White-Rose **

Thorn of the White Rose

Chapter 1

The Perfect Life

"Whoa! No, we're not gonna waste another moment in this town  
>Whoa! And we won't come back, the world is calling out<br>Whoa! Leave the past in the past, gonna find the future"  
>When I'm Gone - Simple Plan<p>

The leaves danced in the wind over the village they sheltered, caught in the summer breeze that blew through the boughs and over the high red walls. The beautiful green leaves of all shapes and sizes, from trees of all kinds slowly floating to rooftop and balcony, windowsill and paving stone as the bustling citizens of Konoha went on with their daily life. On such a fine summer day, with the sun shining down on them and that breeze to ruffle their hair and dry their sweat, hardly a frown could be found as the villagers worked and talked, and played and lived their lives.

Amongst all of the villagers on that fine summer day there was a blond teen who wore one of the most pleased smiles of them all. A seventeen year-old Shinobi who stepped out onto the landing of an apartment building in the Middle District, a grin to rival that of the great Green Beast himself lighting up his golden skin, complimenting perfectly the glow in his bright blue eyes. Naruto Uzumaki was happy. Happier than he could have ever dreamed he might be. The last three months had been some kind of wonderful despite the occasional trouble, and he was thinking about them as he watered his boyfriend's Christmas gift. "Life couldn't be any better, could it?" He said to the dozen or so nodding white blooms, one calloused hand reaching out to fondle the lop-sided flowers. The soft scent of strawberries, lemon and cream tickled his nose, and he inhaled deeply, his smile widening.

Except for a few bumps in the road, Naruto's life could hardly be any better. He was in love, and Kakashi loved him, and in those three months the best thing he'd done-besides forgiving Kakashi-had been finally making the rank of Chuunin, taking an abbreviated test his Baa-chan had arranged. _'No sense putting you in with those untried kids, baka.' _Tsunade had said. '_You'd blow them away with that chakra of yours.' _The councilors had had to agree, and now he was newly-minted Chuunin Naruto Uzumaki, and Kakashi had been so proud of him.

_And so happy for him._ Naruto's relationship with Kakashi was strong, and they were contented with each other. His love had been pulled from being sensei to his team and seconded to the ANBU for the time being and though he didn't like that, the time they got to share together between missions and whatnot had been the best parts of his life so far.

Nipping one droopy rose from the flourishing bush, Naruto finished up his chore and stepped back into the apartment, walking over to his boyfriend's bed to pick up the clothes he'd laid out. They switched between his and Kakashi's homes now. Sometimes his silver-haired former sensei would come to his apartment, but most of the time he would come here so they'd left a quite a few bits of clothing at each other's places between the two of them. Shucking the pants he'd been wearing, he moved into the bathroom to take a shower, playing idly with his Christmas gift as he waited for the water to heat a little.

The blue crystal caught the light and sparkled as he thought about his Jounin, heated spots appearing on Naruto's cheeks as his mind wandered over the time they'd been spending together. Everything had been going slowly. From that first night they'd had, Kakashi had insisted on doing everything at a dedicated and determined pace, teaching Naruto all that he could of loving another man in the most selfish and selfless of ways. Everything that his lover had done to him, Kakashi taught him how to do, and now Naruto could lose himself in touching and tasting the lean, awesome, taller man.

Just getting to call him his 'lover'…just thinking about Kakashi _being_ his lover was enough to bring a surge of heat to his groin, and to make him groan under the warm water washing down over him, but Naruto didn't touch.

There was a particularly sweet pleasure in saving himself for when his boyfriend got back. A weight and a heat that made him feel half-aroused all the time, and always more anxious for when Kakashi came back home to him.

Sure they hadn't done '_it_' yet, just with fingers and with…_tongues…_ The heat on Naruto's cheeks increased tenfold at that thought, but he pushed it away as he turned off the shower. _He could wait for that. __**He **__was learning self control._

The small moments he got to spend with Kakashi made up for whatever they weren't doing together. He'd never suspected that sitting curled up with his boyfriend while he read him jutsu scrolls at night, or kicking back with a picnic at a remote training ground were worth just as much as the heated ones with sweat and swearing. The total of all of those moments together, the sexy and the sweet, were the reasons Kakashi had totally stolen his heart.

Getting out of the shower, Naruto tugged on the pants he'd brought with him, pausing to bend over and roll up the legs. He and Kakashi were almost the same size despite the other man's height advantage, for the silver-haired man was lean and impeccably fit. Sometimes the waist was a little tight, but the teeen enjoyed having the distinctive scent of his lover around him so he put up with it. The black jeans looked good on him after all, and when he fished a black t-shirt out of Kakashi's chest of drawers to put on, it felt even more right.

He headed out the door, grabbing his sweatshirt from the coat tree beside the door on the way by. Shrugging it on, Naruto made sure to lock the door and reset the jutsus guarding the perimeter. Kakashi was a stickler about the protections around his apartment…he wasn't going to let him down.

…KNKNKN…

At one point in time Naruto wouldn't have enjoyed walking alone on these streets as he did today. The looks that had come his way, both masked and not, and the things the villagers had said about him still haunted him. Sure he still got some angry looks from some of the people, but now he didn't care. Now, things were finally going his way. He was in love and not one angry look or muttered curse could ever take that away from him.

A ball shot past him, and Naruto turned to watch it roll away, the shouts of the kids that had been playing with it begging him to send it back. He grinned, and leapt after it, his necklace bonking him on the nose as he pounced on it and spun around to throw it back. The ball sailed over their heads under the force of his toss, and he grinned an apology as he watched the kids chase after it. "Sorry!" With a wave he continued on his way, not at all regretting the fact he'd never got the chance to do that as a kid.

_Things were looking up for him. _He laughed at the thought and continued on. _The past needed to be left there._

The sushi restaurant was quiet when Naruto finally got there. Unlike his boyfriend, he still tried to be on time when he was supposed to be. Entering, he looked for Sakura and the rest of his available friends he was meeting there, his blue eyes scanning the scant crowd for recognizable faces. Just as he spotted her unmistakable pink hair, Sakura waved her hand at him, and he waved back in acknowledgment.

"Hey Sakura-chan, where is everyone else?" He called out as he wound his way across the furniture crowded floor to the huge table his teammate and her boyfriend were sitting at. "Hey, Lee!" Pulling out a chair Naruto sat down, exchanging smiles with the transformed teen. _Sakura's been a good influence on him. _He thought. _The teen looked like a better version of what he used to be._

"They should be here soon." His teammate replied, her gaze fixed on the menu as he settled on his seat, shrugging his orange sweatshirt off and over the back of the chair. "We're a bit early, and Kiba, Hinata and Shino just got back from a B-rank, they had to go home and change.

Nodding his understanding Naruto picked up the menu, goggling at the selection of items on it. There were so many! And it was all-you-can-eat!

"I can't believe Kakashi-sensei hasn't taken you to this place, Naruto!" Lee enthused, those big brown eyes of his looking out from under neatly cut, combed and parted hair. The other teen leaned across the table to point out the _takoyaki. _ "This is one of his favorite places according to Gai-Sensei!"

"I don't know." Naruto shrugged, hm'ing his agreement that they'd have to order that. "Every time I ask he just kinda, well... he just goes kinda green and begs to go somewhere else. It's pretty annoying." Nauto said with laugh. "But I've gotten a lot of Ichiraku ramen out of it!"

Sakura laughed with him, her green eyes sparkling as she looked at her teammate. Everyone was commenting on how Naruto was so much happier, and always in such a good mood. All of the rookies knew that Naruto's life had somehow taken a turn for the better, but Sakura knew that she saw it best. Only she and Lee, and a few precious others knew the real reason for the joy the blond radiated now and the calm satisfaction the formerly solitary Copy-Nin exuded, and those few in the know had all kind of agreed to not talk about it.

That didn't mean she didn't get to ask questions, though, especially since there was no one else around to overhear them. "So how is sensei, Naruto?" Sakura had heard disturbing rumours coming out of her _Shishou_'s office about the silver-haired man. Rumours that had her worrying about her sensei more than she ever had before. Since the battle with the Akatsuki and the recovery of Neji there had been a lot more activity on the Shinobis part, and in the ANBU as well. Missions coming and going, and a general air of anxiety that had set almost everyone's nerves on edge. Kakashi-sensei had been one of those going on longer and more dangerous missions—as befitted a Shinobi of his status—Sakura knew, but she also knew that if she was worrying about him more, Naruto would be thinking of almost nothing else.

Her blond teammate hated it when any of them were in trouble. And he hated it even more when there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Some of her insight was proven accurate when the normal golden tan of Naruto's face paled, and those blue eyes that had been so animatedly shining at Lee became dull and turned inwards. "He's…_uh, _he's alright, I guess…"

A shiver of worry prickled at Naruto's spine as he remembered the last time he'd seen his boyfriend. Kakashi had been adjusting the straps on his white ANBU chest armour, his single grey eye concentrating as he fixed it into place before heading out as Naruto sat on the bed and watched him. "I don't like you going out like this." He'd said. "I want to go with you."

His lover had looked over at him then, the painted mask tipped back over his silver hair giving Kakashi the grotesque semblance of having two sets of eyes trained on him. "Maa, Naruto." He'd said, shrugging bare, muscular shoulders in a way that made the blond teen's groin pang unexpectedly. "You knew when I was ordered back to ANBU that this would happen eventually."

_He'd known all right, but that hadn't meant that he liked it—he hadn't liked it at all…_

…KNKNKN…

_The long sigh his boyfriend made as he sat down set Naruto's nerves to vibrating for some reason, and he looked up from the scroll he'd been reading to peer at the other man, his eyes taking in the way Kakashi's shoulders were slumping, and the exhaustion he could read in the half-lidded grey eye. "You look tired, 'Kashi." He said softly, putting the scroll aside to sit up closer to his boyfriend. "Was the mission that difficult?"_

"_Aaa…" Kakashi's head thumped onto the back of the couch and the other man exhaled a long, weary breath. "No, not any more so than any other B rank, Naru." He said, one hand coming up to push off his forehead protector and rub at both eyes. "That's not it, though." There was something lurking in the way he wasn't looking at him…something that said 'danger' to Naruto and made his instincts prickle, so he crept a little closer, laying his legs in his lover's lap so that he was almost sitting on top of him._

"_What is it then?" Reaching up, Naruto hooked his fingers into the mask his boyfriend hadn't pulled down and did it for him, exposing the pale jaw and the corner of those delicious lips he so liked to kiss. Feeling that flutter of uncertainty, he leaned in and did so now, tilting Kakashi's face to him to kiss him gently, their lips touching in a warm welcome home that wrung another sigh out of the Jounin._

"_It was the news after the mission that you're not going to like." Turning a slight bit more on the couch, Kakashi looped his hands around Naruto's waist and pulled him closer, and then the teen could see the true weariness in the depths of that single grey eye, and the worry, too. _

"_What news?" He'd been in the village for days and hadn't heard anything bad. "What's wrong?"_

_Again with the sigh, a sound so heavy it was as if the weights on his boyfriend's shoulders had doubled…or trebled. Naruto felt his own worry begin to grow and he frowned as he smoothed one rough palm over a pale cheek. "You can tell me…you know you can." They'd been so honest with each other since that terrible separation, sharing all that they could within the constraints of their chosen profession. "C'mon…please?"_

"_The Hokage wants me back in the ANBU." The words came out of Kakashi in a rush, a look of such tight and anxious anticipation on his face that Naruto was taken aback. "It's just temporary… She just wants me back until the shortages are filled and the rookies brought up, but she's not giving me any choice about it."_

_Instantly the blond wanted to say 'no'. To say no and deny that his lover had ever said it, and to lalala his way into pretending that the wind had blown in the trees outside the window and somehow he'd heard ANBU in the scrape of the branches and twigs together, but he knew that it was impossible. That it couldn't be unsaid, and that he didn't have the ability to say no for Kakashi and get away with it. "Damn." Naruto said instead, a world of resentment and worry in that single word. "That sucks."_

_Kakashi laughed, but it had the hint of defeat to it, and then Naruto had felt himself pulled closer, his boyfriend's strong hands tugging him easily further onto the other man's lap. He was hugged then, and Kakashi buried his face in the crook of Naruto's neck, the sound of a long inhalation followed by a slower, lighter exhale. "I know you don't like this, Naru." A warm kiss feathered over his throat. "I actually don't like it either…but we just have to remember that it's only temporary."_

_Only temporary. _

_That had been some consolation as Kakashi tipped him backwards on the couch and laid himself over top of him, the kisses to his neck becoming lingering and harder, until the other man was sucking hot little marks into Naruto's skin. "I promise I'll be careful." The silver-haired man whispered, a lean thigh insinuating itself between Naruto's leg in a sexy way. "Okay?"_

_What else could Naruto say but 'okay', as he was slowly seduced? Melting into the couch and into Kakashi's ardent embrace, and letting his worries fade away._

…KNKNKN…

What else could he even say now? Sitting there with Sakura and Lee, he could admit that he was worried about Kakashi, but even as he looked at his teammate, Naruto could see the concern in her eyes and knew that she already understood, so he shrugged. "He's the best Shinobi ever, Sakura. You know that. I know that. He's going to come back like he always does."

"Cha!" The girl's fist curled with an audible creaking, and Naruto smiled at her show of support, even as Lee thumped a hand against the tabletop in agreement. "Kakashi-senseiis one of the greatest Shinobi ever!" Sakura declared. "You really don't have to worry about him."

Naruto had told himself that many times. That was the reason he was able to smile and be happy and enjoy himself when his boyfriend was out of Konoha on missions they could never talk about. _Kakashi is one of the best._ Those words let him sleep at night, and go out for lunches like this, because for years before Naruto had fallen in love with him, the Jounin had fought and survived and triumphed without him, and the teen knew that the man would have continued to do so if they'd never, ever kissed in the first place.

_Kakashi is one of the best._

"Hey guys!" Kiba's rough shout interrupted his thoughts, and Naruto jerked in surprise, turning in his chair to wave reflexively at the other Chuunin, and the two others that came trailing behind. There was Hinata, and Shino, and then Shikamaru and Choji came in, and suddenly there was no more time to talk about him and Kakashi as Ino made it nine at the table, and their lunch became raucous and fun…and Naruto was able to smile again.

…KNKNKN…

_Moist hot air slapped at Naruto's face as he pushed his way through the thick foliage, his padding feet making no noise in the thick undergrowth he was trodding over. Smells wanted to overwhelm his keen senses, so much so he didn't know which way to turn his head and he swung it this way and that, trying to absorb them all. This was more than he'd ever scented before, and so much stronger, too, and when he paced forwards, it seemed as if he was walking in a different way—maneuvering in a different way, and it was so much freer and easier than he'd ever moved before._

_A rustle in the undergrowth had him crouching down, Naruto's heart beginning to thump in anticipation. He let his nose investigate and below it was a paw…a long, narrow furry paw that stopped his thoughts and made him pause…_

_And Naruto knew that that paw was his._

_That paw was the Kyuubi's too, and he recognized that. A thrill of acknowledgement went through Naruto as he accepted his dream, and then with a flicker and a shudder, the entire dream changed, as if in his recognizing the dream he'd doomed it to turn into a nightmare. _

_It was close and steamy in the jungle now: Naruto had only two feet, and suddenly stifled senses where they'd been so strong before. His clothes were clinging to him, wet and constricting like they were trying to hold him back and strangle him, but beyond the dank feeling there was something wrong, he could feel it in the shiver of his skin and the way his insides squirmed. Something bad was going to happen if he didn't keep going…if he didn't push through. He could hear the sounds of fighting, the clash of steel on steel and the subdued screams that were all injured Shinobi allowed themselves to make when they were wounded and Naruto suddenly knew that there was one voice he was supposed to hear above them all._

_Kakashi. He was here somewhere. Naruto could feel it. He had to…he had to get to him!_

_Vines like strangling ropes surrounded him as he began to move faster. The clang of metal got louder, scarier, and his heart began to beat in double time, the drum of it in his ears joining the lethal chime of weaponry to increase his fear. Kakashi. He was here somewhere, fighting, but Naruto couldn't see him! He knew! He knew that he needed to get to him, needed to help him…where was he?_

_Eyes streaming with stinging sweat blinked and strained. A glimpse of pink and red to his right made him flinch, and almost change course, but the curdling strain in his stomach would not let him do that. Sakura was…Kami!_

_Kakashi was more important._

_Naruto pushed aside the guilt he felt and plunged through the thick leaves. They slapped at him, whacking him like slabs of green meat, _whackwhackwhack_, making his head ache and his body shudder. He fought free of them as he had the vines, his eyes wildly darting about as he panted out his fear. Where was he?! Where is he?! Please, Kami, just a glimpse of his hair! Just the sound of his voice!_

_Trembling now, Naruto pressed on, fighting the leaves and the trees and the vines and the fear that was trying to take him over and make him stumble and fall. Along with the beat of his heart in his ears and that dischordant clanging all that he could hear was his Jounin's name over and over and over again._

_Bursting through the thick foliage Naruto fell into a clearing, landing on his hands and knees in mud and gluck and stinking, rotting vegetation. He panted for breath before looking up, crystal droplets of salty sweat hanging from his lashes and from the tip of his nose. "Kakashi!" Before him the silver-haired man struggled in battle, two opponents with red and black cloaks bearing down on him._

"_Kakashi! Kakashi!"_

_Struggling, Naruto tried to get to his feet, but somehow in the time it had taken him to look up and see his boyfriend he'd sank down, and now his hands and lower legs were stuck—stuck deep in the mire and as he tugged and yanked and cursed with frustration, he just sank lower._

"_Kakashi!"_

_The coppery scent of blood scraped at his sensitive nose and Naruto's head jerked up just in time to see the scarlet spray of his Jounin's blood splatter across the clearing. Silver hair was blotched and blotted red and as he opened his mouth to scream his lover's name he saw a shining blade dart forwards at Kakashi's neck and…_

"_**Nnnooooo….**_**"** The scream echoed in the room as he jerked awake, his heart racing, his stomach clenched and hurting so bad that he had to roll to the side of his bed right away and hang his head over the floor, retching up the lunch that he'd enjoyed so much. "Nuh, nuh, nuh…" Naruto breathed, panting, trying to control the heaving that was still ripping at his guts and making his skin flush with shivery cold sweat that was far too like the sweat from his nightmare.

"Ka…kashi…" Stuttering, he managed to pull himself back from the edge and away from the acid, acrid scent of his own vomit. It was better than the smell of blood had been, and the sight of the same four walls and ceiling around him and the familiar bed beneath was better than that damned jungle. As he lay there on his belly waiting for his panic and fear to subside, Naruto could swear that he still felt those vines strangling him, and could feel the sensitive places on his skin where those meaty leaves had hit him. "Aughh." He groaned, sniffling back snot and tears and that cold sweat. "That was too real! Too damned real!"

Rolling over on his back Naruto stared at the ceiling, picking out every stain and pockmark on the plaster above Kakashi's bed that he'd had become familiar with since they'd made up. He felt better to be here, to inhale the smell of his lover and know that what he'd just seen was nothing more than a nightmare.

_A very scary, scary nightmare. One that he wasn't about to forget soon._

"Damnit, Kakashi." Naruto covered his wet, aching eyes with his forearm, the welling of misery and loneliness in his heart threatening to overwhelm him. "I miss you so much. You better come home safe, you irritating jerk!" Deep, deep in his belly, behind the seal that imprisoned him, Naruto felt the Kyuubi twist and turn, and he clamped a hand over his belly button, the prickle of the inking on his skin rising up under his hand. It seemed as if the fox was as unsettled by the nightmare as he'd been, he grimaced, thoughtlessly rubbing small circles over his stomach. Whether he was trying to calm it, or himself down, he didn't know, but this whole nightmare had made a terrible day out of one that had started out so happily.

"So much for the relaxing after hanging out with my friends." Naruto groaned to himself. Even with his arm over his eyes he could still see that spray of blood and see how his love had started to crumple. He was close to tears again, and he felt really whimpy and needy and _young_, and more than anything he wanted to feel Kakashi's chakra brush against his own and see that long, angular figure come through that door with that stupid painted mask on. He whimpered, and arched uncomfortably on the bed, pressing down harder against the seal as he fought to reject the pain and anxiety that had come with his very bad dream. "It was only a stupid nightmare, Naruto! Only a stupid nightmare because you ate too much stupid _takoyaki! _It w_asn't __**real**_!"

Saying it only made him feel a little bit better, but a little bit was better than nothing at all. He was able to take his arm away from his eyes and pull his t-shirt down over his stomach and sit up, the scent of his own vomit over the soothing scent of his lover making him cringe away from that side of the bed. That was something he was going to have to clean up. That was Kakashi's mat he was getting all stinky and stained, and he couldn't let the Jounin know that he'd been so foolish, and so worried about him that he'd actually thrown up. Kakashi worried too much about him already, and the last thing the blond would ever do to him was distract the older man with thoughts of his troubles while the Jounin was away on a mission.

That could very well be a deadly distraction. Fatal. With blood and muck and…

With a low, muttered oath he slid from the bed, carefully avoiding the mess he'd left on the floor. Cleaning supplies were in the hall closet and Naruto went for them, determined to erase any reminder of that terrible nightmare and then to take his second shower of the day and wash all of the rest of it away. When Kakashi got back…_ When _Kakashi got back, he'd greet him with laughter, and with smiles, and then he'd damned well make sure the man knew just how much he loved him, and he wouldn't let him get out of bed for at least three days.

Damn the missions! And damn his Baa-chan if she tried to order him out! And double damn any freaking nightmares that might try to scare the freaking shit out of him again! They would NOT succeed. Kakashi was the best! Naruto clenched a fist, grinding down his teeth as he reminded himself of that irrefutable fact.

_KAKASHI WAS THE BEST! _There. He could hang onto that and keep it for the truth. Something sharp and cool bit into his palm, and it wasn't until he looked down to see what it was that he realized he'd clenched his fist around his crystal and a thready bit of uncertainty snuck its way back in. "Kakashi _**is**_ the best." Naruto whispered to the pendant as he brought it to his lips and kissed it. "And don't you ever forget it, _dattebayo._"

Now he just had to keep on believing it.

**I hope all of you enjoyed the first chapter, I must be honest. This chapter was finished a bit ago but this came up and there were days I forget even to eat. I am very sorry about keeping you guys waiting. Please leave a review, and make sure to show King some love! –D.W**


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